Ticket-case



I'M-HARPER.

TIGKET CASE.

Patented May 25, 1886.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

JAMES M. HARPER, OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS.

TICKET-CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 342,354, dated May 2 Application filed October 5,1885.

To (ZZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES M. HARPER, a resident of the city and county of Peoria,State of Illinois, haveinventcd certain new and useful Improvements in Ticket-Gases, of which the following is hereby declared to be a full, clear, and exact description, suflicieut to en-. able others skilled in the art to make and use the same.

My invention relates to that class of ticketcases in which a continuous strip-ticket is arranged, said ticket-strip being capable of with drawal from the case at will, in such wise as to permit the conductor or other oflicial to detach from the strips the portions or lengths thereof which represent the toll or fare to be collected.

Strip-tickets wound in coil and arranged "within an inclosing-case, as described, are

found to be useful, especially among railways which frequently have occasion to issue, at reduced rates, a ticket good for a thousand miles or more of travel. Ordinarily such longdistance tickets consist merely of a series of detached strips bound in book form,said strips being subdivided in turn by perforations or otherwise into a number of smaller stubs, each of which represents one mile or more of fare, as determined, and capable of being detached at will for the collection of such fare. Long-distance tickets in book form are open to a number of objections in practice, which it is the-design of the continuous strip-ticket arranged within an inclosing-case to obviate.

My invention relates more particularly to certain improvements in the construction of ticket-cases designed to receive the continuous strip-ticket therein, whereby, primarily, any portion of the strip which may be withdrawn from the case, by accident or otherwise,'in excess of what is necessary to pay the fare, may be temporarily and securely wound about or within the walls of the case, in relation separate from the main body of the ticket-coil,and in readiness to be first withdrawn when any further fare is to be collected.

The invention also consists in certain improvements in detail in the construction of ticket-cases, the nature of which will appear from the subj oined description of the preferred device, adapted to the practice of my invenmounted in position thereon.

sci-nu No. 178,971. (No model.)

tion, and will therefore be distinctly pointed {out in the claims following.

tion of said case, with the strip therein, on theline g g of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cup-like section B of the case detached, and showing the protective guard or check Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of the case and ticket-strip,with the cup-like section B removed therefrom. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are detail views of various styles of the protective check or guard.

Themain body of the ticket'case consists,ordinarily, of two cup-like sections, A and B, which may be of metal, gutta-percha, celluloid, vulcanized fiber, or other suitable material, and sections being of such dimensions as to permit the cylindrical walls thereof to close one within the other, leaving suflicient space between them,as shown,about or within which one or more lengths of the ticket-strip may be wound. Each cylindrical wall of the two euplike sections is preferably extended the depth of the case, so as to abut and bear snugly against the base or flanged rim of the opposite or companion section, thus furnishing a firm even bearing for the two sections, and eomplctely inclosing the supplemental chamber or annulus wherein the excess of the ticket-strip is wound. A circumferential bead, a,may be couvenientl y formed upon one of said sections, which bead keeps the supplemental chamber or annulus uniform about the case, and serves also as a bearing upon which the opposite secof the screw-fastener O, which fastener asse-- through a hole in the opposite section, B, and has its inner offset or head to bear tightly against the end of arbor a. The outer or main head of fastener O is snugly received within the seat or recess formed therefor in the raised boss I) of the cupsection B, but is just free from contact with said seat, the bearing for ICO the screw-fastener being against the end of arbor a, as described. By this expedient the cupsection B, while guided and retained in position, is free to turn about the screw-fastener at will, without strain or risk of dislocating said section or the fastener from place.

The ticketstrip D, conveniently wound in close coil, is mounted within the section A about the arbor a as a center, upon which it may turn, and has its free end drawn out through the opening or slot in the wallof said section A. The tension device to regulate the withdrawal of the strip may consist simply of the plate-spring c, loosely mounted to bear against the inner wall of the cup-like section A, with its forward end extending across the slot or opening in said section, and terminating in a loop,through which a pin maybe inserted when the case is open, for the purpose of re.- leasing the ticket-strip from the tension of said spring and allowing the strip to run free. The ticket-coil being mounted in position, as described, the cup-like section Bis dropped into place with the slot in the wall thereof inclosing the protruding or free end of the ticket strip, in which relation of the parts the screwl'astener C may be forced home in its socket in arbor a, thus holding the parts of the ticketcase snugly and securely together. It will be observed that in such relation the two cup-like sections of the case are designed to move freely in rotation about each other, which movement the bead a permits to be effected without material strain upon or insecurity to the fastener U.

The protective guard or check which it is proposed to employ to enable the officials to detect any clandestine attempt to tamper with the contents of the ticket-case may be of several forms. The preferred style is that shown by Fig. 2 and corresponding details, and consists of a light metal cap to inclose the raised boss I) of the cup-section B after the fastener O has been screwed down into its seat. A reamingtool or like device forces the edge of the light metal cap into the circumferential kerf 6, cut about the boss I), and thereby locks said cap securely in place at the same time that the head of screw-fastener G is rendered ordinarily inaccessible.

Instead of the metal cap, there may be a straight fillet of metal or the like, as at d,which can be forcibly set within the usual slot in the head of screw-fastener O and flush with the face thereof.

\Vhether the cap or plate be adopted, it is obvious that if attempt is made to force the same from lace the frail material will be lout'or broken, so that such cap or plate cannot again be neatly restored to position. Ordinarily, however, there is no reason for dislocating the cap or plate, except it be to gain access to the ticket-case for the purpose of inserting a counterfeit strip in lieu of the genuine strip therein, when the same has become about exhausted. In usual practice the auditor or other official to whom the portions of ticket-strip as detached are returned by the fare collector, is furnished with a complete list of the tickets, their designating numbers or symbols issued and existing in use. Under such circumstances he would at once detect the presence of the counterfeit should the detached strip have a number or symbol different from that which pertained to some ticket then in use, or which, though of the same designatingmark, was in excess mileage of what had been issued upon such particular genuine ticket. \Vhether the imitation number or symbol were in repetition of that assigned to a ticket issued and retired, or were the same as that which in ordinary course would attach to a genuine ticket yet to be issued, the discovery of the'fraud would occur in either event.

As a ready safeguard, to assist the ticket collector from being imposed upon by such spu rious tickets, my invention contemplates the use, in conjunction with the ticket-strip bearing the individual number or symbol, as explained, of a like number of designations stamped, affixed, or otherwise marked upon some partof the ticketease in which the ticket is contained. By this expedient the collector has always in View a check number or mark with which to identify the strip as the same is withdrawn from the case. Obviously with each change in the tickettha t is, each. time the case is furnished with a new ticket-strip there must be a corresponding change in the number or symbol carried upon the case to agree with the new designation of ticket. A cheap and convenient means to this end consists in having the protective cap or fillet marked (either when stamped out or thereafter) with a number or symbol in keeping with that of the ticket-strip which is to be used in conjunction therewith. Since a new cap or fillet is necessary each time the case is taken apart and refilled, this plan of marking the same as a check upon the ticket-strip is very easily effected or, again, should no cap or fillet be used, then, as in Fig. 5, the screwfastener may have a designation on the face of its head in correspondence with that upon the particular strip. By having a stock of such screw-fasteners on hand, consecutively numbered or otherwise marked, it is easy to select the screw to correspond with the numbering upon any one ticket-strip. Instead of these expedients the identifying-mark may be upon one of the ticket-case cups or upon the lid, although, as these parts are intended for permanent use, and are more expensive, it is better to employ one of the other expedients before named. Manifestly, however, the desired check is effected for all practical purposes so long as there exists upon some part of the casing an identifyinganark to correspond with that upon the contained ticketstrip.

The ticket-strip D may be divided and subdivided in accordance with any desired plan, and may be stamped, marked, engraved, and consecutively numbered in accordance with the needs of the railway or other company employing the same. 011 presenting the ticketease to the conductor or other official intrusted with the business of collecting the fare, he withdraws the necessary portion of the ticketstrip from the case and detaches the same, as well understood. The edge of the slot or opening in either one or both of the cup-like sections A B may be sharpened, as shown, to aid in tearing or detaching the portion of the strip which is to be collected.

If for any reason a greater length of the strip is withdrawn from the case than is necessary to pay the fare, it has heretofore been impracticable in ticket-cases of the class described to return the excess portion of the strip to the interior of the case, or otherwise to preserve it from risk of premature detachment. By providing the external chamber or annulus between the contiguous walls of the cup-like sections A B, as in my present invention, it is merely necessary tograsp said sections by either hand,and to turn one upon the other, whereupon the excess portion of the ticket-strip will be wound snugly about or within the supplemental chamber, and be securely kept therein until further fare is to be collected. Should the ticket-strip be torn off close against the" edge of the slot in the inner cup-section, so that the end does not protude sufficiently to be grasped by the finger, a pin, knife, or like instrument may be inserted in the slit 7, and the end be thereby moved out far enough to be seized.

By preference, the disk or cap of the cuplike section A is provided with a depression or recess, as at a", within which may be inserted a card of instruction stating the terms upon which the ticket has been issued, the name of the company, and providing a space for the fac-simile signature of the purchaser of the ticket, to be written thereon for the purpose of iudentification. A circular cover, E, pivoted, as at e, to the flange of said cup'like section A, serves to cover said card, and is held in place over the same by the spring-detent e, which snaps'into a recess in said cover. The cover may have a recess therein similar to that in cupsection A, and, like it, serving to receive a copy of the rules or contract under which the ticket is issued. It will be noticed that the slot in the outer or inclosing cup-like section, B, is preferably larger than the corresponding slot in the inner cup-like section, a, for greater convenience in gaining access to the loose end of the ticketstrip which may be wound about within the annulus.

Obviously many of the details of my invention may be varied or omitted without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, the circumferential bead a may be dispensed with, and other means than the screw-fastener C and arbor a may be employed to join the cup-like sections together in manner free to revolve. Instead of having the sections of simple cup-like form, as heretofore described, the inclosing-wall of the outer section may be reticulated, or may comprise merely a series of rods projecting from the rim to which they are fastened, and overlapping the ticket-strip in manner towind the surplus thereof about the contiguous wall of the inner section. Again, the inner section may have two fixed concentric walls set close together, one within the other, the inner wall serving to inclose the main body of the ticket-strip, while the outer acts to receive the surplus overlaid thereon. In lieu of the tension-spring 0, other expedients may be used, or said spring itself be arranged in different location, although in the particular position shown it plainly serves not only as a tension device, but also as a guard, to prevent any instrument being inserted within the interior of the case for the purpose of tampering with the ticket-coil.

The subjectmatter and character of the ticketstrip I do not deem to be essential, for the reason that the same must be varied within wide li mits,according to the particular requirements of the person or corporation having need of the same. The identifying-card, although useful in such particular, is not an essential of the invention, since the plan of securing the excess ticket-strip within the supplemental chamber and against premature loss or detachment remains the same,whether such ad: j unct be employed or not.

The ticketstrip may be of any convenient sizeas for one, two, or three thousand mile tripsand in practice may conveniently be furnished with the protective cap, fillet, or screw of corresponding number attached thereto, and thus held in readiness at the ticketofiice for use when the case is presented for the insertion of a fresh ticket'strip.

Having thus describedmy invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A ticket-case for eontinuousstrip tickets, said case consisting of dual sections freely united to revolve about each other, and to inclose the ticket coil, the contiguous walls of said sections being provided with openings therein to allow the strip to pass, and being spaced with respect to each other so that aportion of the strip may be wound between said walls, substantially as described.

2. A ticket-case for continuous-strip tickets, said case consisting of dual sections freely united to revolve about each other, and to in-- close the ticket-coil, one of said sections having a stud or arbor about which the ticketcoil may center, while the contiguous walls of both of said sections are provided with openings therein to allow the strip to pass, and are spaced with respect to each other so as to receive a portion of the strip between said walls, substantially as described.

3. A ticket-case for continuous-strip tick- IICI IIS

. ets, said case consisting of two cup-like seetions, one of said sections having a stud or arbor about which the ticket-coil may center, and to which arbor the other section is detachably united to inclose the coil, said sections being free to revolve about each other, while the contiguous walls thereof are suitably slotted to admit the strip to pass, and are also set at such distance apart as to receive a portion of the strip between said walls, substantially as described.

4. In ticket-cases, the combination, with the cup-like section A, having the arbor a,about which the ticket-coil may center, of the cuplike section B and the screw-fastener 0, resting thereon, the contiguous walls of said sections being interspaced to admit a portion of the ticket-strip between them, and said fastener being received within and bearing against the arbor a, whereby said sections are united cup-like section A, having the 'arbor a and the head a thereon, of the cup-like section B and the screw-fastener G,to unite said sections together in manner free to'revolve, the con tiguous walls of said sections being slotted,and also interspaccd to admit a portion of the ticket-strip therein, substantially as described.

7. In ticket cases, the combination, with the cup-like section A, and with the companion section B, having raised boss thereon, of the screw-fastener uniting said sections together, and the protective cap covering the head of said fastener and secured to the boss-section, substantially as described.

JAMES M. HARPER. 

